REVIEW – Cloud Nine by Holly Drummond

Cloud Nine by Holly Drummond

On The Hands Of Change, her touchingly heartfelt duet with Suffolk singer Lewis Mokler, 18 year-old Edinburgh singer songwriter Holly Drummond sings of her despair of time slipping away; of the wheels of change moving too fast.

She needn’t worry. Though it’s easy to imagine the last few years have been a whirlwind for her, rising from bedroom YouTube cover versions to this, her latest EP. Holly already has an impressive collection of self-recorded and produced songs behind her: so she may well find is able to realise her dreams of ‘singing to a crowd of screams’ before too long.

Holly Drummond (the artist formerly known as Smoothiesforme) is a bona fide internet success, having racked up thousands of views on her video channel and gained a large following on social media. Her fans’ loyalty is justified: Holly’s songs are melancholic and maturely-observed vignettes of life: tales of broken hearts and broken promises, yet shot through with an inner strength expressed through her accomplished songwriting.

The six songs on Cloud Nine are mostly down tempo acoustic guitar numbers, but layered with accompanying keys, strings and rhythms which turn them into lush productions: doubly impressive when you consider all of them were self-recorded and produced in Holly’s bedroom studio.

Cloud Nine itself is the closest thing to a pop song on offer here; a relatively straightforward love song with a keyboard motif dancing amongst the chorus and verses. But, as with the other, more serious tracks on the EP, Holly’s voice is the star, shading everything with an appealing and distinctively smooth tone: whether on the bold goodbyes-and-good-riddance of Girl That You Don’t Know, or the heartbreaking wistfulness of closer Free.

With its bittersweet mournfulness and lack of filler, the Cloud Nine EP is a highly-recommended release from the young Edinburgh singer, and further cements her as a talent to watch out for.

And with songs as accomplished as this, she has every chance of soaring high above the clouds and becoming a star in her own right.

Cloud Nine will be released on iTunes on Monday 6th August 2012 and will will also be available on Spotify, Amazon and other online music outlets